Herbert Lumsden

Herbert Lumsden
Lumsden as GOC 1st Armoured Division. The photo was taken on 6 Sept 1942 after his promotion to Lieut-General. (Imperial War Museum)
Born	8 April 1897
Died	6 January 1945
Allegiance	United Kingdom
Service/branch	British Army
Years of service	1916 - 1945
Rank	Lieutenant-General
Commands held	12th Royal Lancers 1st Armoured Division X Corps VIII Corps II Corps
Awards	Companion of the Order of the Bath Distinguished Service Order Military Cross

Lieutenant-General Herbert Lumsden, CB, DSO, MC, psc (8 April 1897 - 6 January 1945) was a British Army general during World War II.

Early career

Herbert Lumsden was born in 1897, the son of John Lumsden. Educated at Eton, at the outbreak of World War I he was only 17 years old. He served in the ranks with the Territorial Force for ten months before passing into the Royal Military Academy, Woolwich. He was commissioned into the Royal Horse Artillery on 13 August 1916. On 26 July 1918 Lumsden was awarded the Military Cross. The citation read;

For conspicuous gallantry and devotion to duty during 13 days of continuous fighting in charge of a forward section. He invariably showed the greatest coolness and courage in the face of danger, keeping his section in action, and always volunteering for any officer's patrol work. As FOO he was consistently shelled whenever he moved his OP, and, although finally wounded, he continued to work and observe for his battery.

Interbellum period

On 19 April 1923 Lumsden married Alice Mary Roddick in Northaw. They would have two sons together. Lumsden continued to serve in the Royal Artillery until 24 June 1925 when he transferred to the 12th Royal Lancers (Prince of Wales), a cavalry regiment. In August he was promoted from Lieutenant to Captain after eight years in the former rank. He was an ardent horseman, despite his 6 ft height, and participated in a number of Grand Nationals. In 1926 he won the prestigious Grand Military Gold Cup at Sandown riding Foxtrot.

In 1929 Lumsden attended the Staff College, Camberley and passed the course, entitling him to use the post-nominals psc after his name. Promoted to Major in 1931, he held staff appointments in the cavalry for the next four years, being G.S.O.3 of Aldershot Command and then Brigade Major of the 1st Cavalry Brigade. After a period of not being employed he became G.S.O.2 at the Staff College before being given command, in 1938, of his old regiment, the 12th Royal Lancers in succession to Colonel Richard McCreery. He was still in command of the regiment, now converted to armoured cars, at the outbreak of the Second World War.

Second World War

Lumsden was widely praised for his command of his regiment during the retreat to Dunkirk in 1940 as part of the British Expeditionary Force. For his actions he was awarded the Distinguished Service Order. He was promoted and commanded a tank brigade before being appointed GOC of 6th Armoured Division in the Home command in October 1941.

On 5 November 1941 he was given command of the 1st Armoured Division. It was in this role that he first saw service in North Africa. A forceful and rather touchy personality, he frequently argued with his peers and superiors—the bickering over orders contributed much to the British defeat at Gazala. He was wounded twice in 1942 (having to hand over his command from January to March) and received a bar to his DSO and on his return to service he survived Montgomery's cull of Eighth Army commanders. He was appointed commander of X Corps for the Second Battle of El Alamein after Horrocks turned the command down. Lumsden did not get on well with Montgomery, who was very critical of his perceived reluctance to launch vigorous offensive operations during the battle and his alleged tardiness to pursue the retreating Afrika Korps. Critics assert that Lumsden's reluctance was not perceived but a fact, and that his tardiness was not alleged, but proved. Lumsden did not deliver the armoured support that he was bound by orders to deliver and, in fact, did quite the opposite. He was manifestly not a team player and perceived of armoured operations as an independent, opportunistic enterprise, not to be part of an organized, coordinated offensive developed by other commanders. Every major decision by Lumsden during the critical offensive at Alamein was to delay, not to move, to pause and to reconsider. In his view, the proper place for an armoured regiment was behind light armoured cavalry in advance, and behind infantry in support of them. In one of the great armoured battles of the war, perhaps of all time, Lumsden was not a factor. He was removed from command by Montgomery, in January, 1943, just a few months after Alamein.

Lumsden was given command of VIII Corps in Britain in January 1943 and command of II Corps also in Britain in July 1943 before being sent to the Pacific as Winston Churchill's military representative to MacArthur. He was killed instantly by a kamikaze plane whilst on the bridge of USS New Mexico observing the bombardment of Lingayen Gulf on 6 January 1945. Narrowly escaping death in the same incident was Vice-Admiral Bruce Fraser, 1st Baron Fraser of North Cape, who had requested Lumsden's presence on the bombardment tour.

References

• Lt-Col Jackson, G.S.; Staff, 8 Corps (2006) [1945]. 8 Corps: Normandy to the Baltic. MLRS Books. ISBN 978-1-905696-25-3. 
• Biographical Dictionary of British Generals of the Second World War, Nick Smart. ISBN 1-84415-049-6

External links

• Timeline of Lumsden's WWII service
• Biography of Lumsden

Military offices
Preceded by John Crocker	GOC 6th Armoured Division 15 October 1940–29 October 1941	Succeeded by Charles Gairdner
Preceded by Willoughby Norrie	GOC 1st Armoured Division November 1941–January 1942	Succeeded by Frank Messervy
Preceded by Frank Messervy	GOC 1st Armoured Division March 1942–August 1942	Succeeded by Raymond Briggs
Preceded by William Holmes	GOC, X Corps August 1942–December 1942	Succeeded by Brian Horrocks
Preceded by Arthur Grassett	GOC, VIII Corps January 1943–July 1943	Succeeded by Richard McCreery
Preceded by Gerald Templer	GOC, II Corps July 1943–October 1943	Succeeded by Sir Desmond Anderson